Driving 3 Stepper Motors w/Propeller Quickstart
Scope
Posts: 417
Hello
Can anyone give me - or link me - the info for creating a simple way to drive 3 stepper motors using the Propeller Quickstart board?
These motors are small: 12V rated voltage, max current of 350mA
I have two Darlington arrays but I've never used them
Are there stepper motor add-on boards I could use for this?
I'm also "good to go" with reliable 12V sources w/plenty of amps for this project
Thank you,
Scope
Can anyone give me - or link me - the info for creating a simple way to drive 3 stepper motors using the Propeller Quickstart board?
These motors are small: 12V rated voltage, max current of 350mA
I have two Darlington arrays but I've never used them
Are there stepper motor add-on boards I could use for this?
I'm also "good to go" with reliable 12V sources w/plenty of amps for this project
Thank you,
Scope
Comments
It might help if you provide some details about what you're trying to do and what you've accomplished so far.
regarding the software-side Mat-At-Work coded a stepperdriver for 3 axis that are synchronised to each other.
So 3D-moving for CNC is possible.
forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?142705-Step-Dir-signal-generator-for-CNC
His code does not use the bresenham algorithm. His solution provides step-signals for all three axis that have minimised jitter.
(the bresenham algorithm creates a more or less derivating frequency of the step-pulses.
Any speed-ratio between X-Y-Z-axis can be created. Two days ago I started playing around with his code. Very good so far.
Man At Work did a very good job. The API provides easy to use X-Y-Z coordinates and constants for adpating
to different resolsutions. speeds and ramping.
If the axles doesn't have to be synchronised at high speeds and with high precission any other stepperdriver will do.
With chips like the L293D your code has to take care of the logical details how and when each coil has to be switched ON/OFF
with the right polarity. L293D and L298 are suitable for unipolar and bipolar steppermotors.
Sparkfun also hase some small stepperdriver boards
Chips like the L297 combined with L298 oder TB6560 just need a step and direction signal.
Recently I bought a cheap 3-axis driverboard for 35 euro = $47 with 3 TB6560-drivers. 0.75 to 3.5A
For a first step of my mini cnc-mill good enough.
best regards
Stefan
http://youtu.be/2en2LjhYTso
$45+$5 shipping.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WKRNGWPQ6LYP6
Sounds perfect - I just put one on order - thank you sir!!!
I hope to achieve "movement" today with all the three stepper motors.
This prototype is just a "proof of concept" and there are many details that need to get worked out later.
Also, I've made several changes to the original design - sorry for any confusion.
Just saw this. To get started, you can try this
http://code.google.com/p/propforth/wiki/LittleRobot
Its only set up for two steppers, but of course you can add more. The ones we use are the 5 volt cheapie ones, but the software should work with any appropriate stepper circuit.
Thanks pb
It's been a while since I've used the Propeller (gasp!) so, I'm basically relearning what little I used to be familiar with. Because I'm crazy-dependent on visual learning, I create doc's like this one to help me "see" what the text is describing (see attached .pdf file).
If there is a moderator that can tell me these types of documents shouldn't be shared here, for any reason, I apologize and will not publish any more. I respect Parallax's responsibility to insure consistent and accurate information, so if my work isn't up to snuff, or may seem confusing, incomplete, or unnecessary, then no problem.
Happy holidays!